The World According to Steve

Michael Phelps latest run-in with the law raises many questions about how athletes act, especially after success in their specific sports. Michael was recently photographed smoking marijuana from a bong and images have been scattered throughout various media outlets over the past week. The most decorated Olympian of all time released a statement apologizing for his actions and reassured those listening he would never do this again. There are more layers to this story than a beach ball sized onion and I intend to uncover just a few.

First of all, when the story broke advertisers that utilize Phelps services for selling their products almost immediately came out in support of the young star. Only within the last couple of days did the Kellogg's company choose to part ways with Phelps. Maybe they should have looked at it from a glass half-full approach - if Phelps' actions encourages others to smoke pot then those impressionable youth will get the munchies and snack down on some Tony the Tiger at 3:00 am before passing out in the basement of their parents house. It sounds like a winning marketing strategy to me, although I'm not sure what Kellogg's PR department would think.

Whether they choose to drop the star from their payrolls is of no interest to me, however it does strike me as odd their rapid response to stand up for him in this particular case. There are numerous cases, that unfortunately slip my mind, where sports figures have been banished from their endorsements when not so favorable publicity comes the athletes way. Although I do not recall the companies, I do remember Kobe Bryant suffering lost endorsement deals when the alleged scandal broke about sexual misconduct with a female admirer. As I remember, charges were dropped/dismissed, but Kobe still had to brake ties with his endorsers. Why not Michael Phelps? It seems the Golden Boy persona has helped him thus far to outshine the criticism. Either that or Speedo cannot find any other fascinating celebrities to market their extra snug crotch huggers for $39.99.

Also, if your Michael Phelps are you really a big enough star at this point to risk putting yourself in the position of tainting your career? After all he gained his popularity....as a swimmer in the Olympics. The minute The Nest was emptied at the closing ceremonies in Beijing, his star began dimming and won't return fully again until London comes calling. The last time I saw Michael before this he was chasing down 350 pounds of Warren Sapp in a hotel swimming pool. Here is why he cannot afford this...

1) Swimming is not the most widely/consistently followed sport in this country or any other country for that matter, so taking this chance ruins his opportunity at being a big star for the rest of his life. His stardom is or was based mainly on his pursuit of perfection at the 2008 Games, not simply because he is a world renown sprinter in the pool. We could have easily been enamored by an athlete pursuing a similar feat in Women's gymnastics. If this was a Austrian swimmer do you think anyone would have paid attention, let alone cheered along in support as he aimed for perfection?

2) The Olympics are clearly not what they used to be. The athletes that dominate headlines in our country are the ones in basketball, baseball, and football. They play each season for 6-7 months straight and dominate the media landscape each and every day. Making your name in this international competition will only make you big for a few weeks in America, then it is back to paying attention to the bigger than life stars like Tom Brady, Lebron James, or Derek Jeter.

3) Now that these images have come out, his reputation in the drug infested business of sport will be in question forever. Wiser critics will ask routinely, 'if he is willing to put this drug in his body, what other drugs has he put in his body or is willing to put in his body'? In sports endorsements are where the money is made and in endorsements your image in the court of public opinion is key.

It is another sad, but seemingly unavoidable sports story that involves our favorite heroes and their fall from grace. As I write this, Sports Illustrated is breaking news that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003. I am not sure what is going on in sports, but apparently the blueprint to winning now has many shortcuts and there appear to be so many that even the avid fan cannot keep up with who cheated when or how often. The Phelps story resonates with many causal sports fans in addition to diehards because Micheal was an athlete not only bathed in gold, but colored in red, white, and blue; so he didn't just represent himself, he also swam for you, me, and the entire country.